LESSON 5
October 27 to November 2
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,
and heard behind me a great voice, as
of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last: and, What
thou seest, write in a book, and send it
unto the seven churches." Rev. 1:10, 11
(first part).
Through the vision the prophet's mind
was enlightened. When not in vision but
still aided by the Spirit of God, he pre-
sented to others orally or in writing what
he saw and heard. This he did in the
best language at his command. On differ-
ent occasions he employed different
words in describing the same vision.
"The Bible is written by inspired men,
but it is not God's mode of thought and
expression. It is that of humanity. God,
as a writer, is not represented. Men will
often say such an expression is not like
God. But God has not put Himself in
words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in
the Bible. The writers of the Bible were
God's penmen, not His pen. Look at the
different writers.
"It is not the words of the Bible that
are inspired, but the men that were in-
spired. Inspiration acts not on the man's
words or his expressions but on the man
himself, who, under the influence of the
Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts.
But the words receive the impress of the
individual mind. The divine mind is dif-
fused. The divine mind and will is com-
bined with the human mind and will;
thus the utterances of the man are the
word of
God."—Selected Messages,
Bk.
1, p. 21.
Ellen White's experience in receiving
and delivering God's messages was par-
allel with the prophets of God in past
ages. Hers was not a singular, bizarre,
or one-time phenomenon setting her
apart as odd and peculiar. She was an-
other prophet through whom God gave
His messages.
The following passage gives an illus-
tration of how God spoke through the
spirit of prophecy in establishing our
doctrines upon the Bible:
"We are to be established in the faith,
in the light of the truth given us in our
early experience. At that time one error
after another pressed in upon us; minis-
ters and doctors brought in new doc-
trines. We would search the Scriptures
with much prayer, and the Holy Spirit
would bring the truth to our minds. Some-
times whole nights would be devoted to
searching the Scriptures, and earnestly
asking God for guidance. Companies of
devoted men and women assembled for
this purpose. The power of God would
come upon me, and I was enabled
clearly to define what is truth and what
is error.
"As the points of our faith were thus
established, our feet were placed upon
a solid foundation. We accepted the
truth point by point, under the demon-
stration of the Holy Spirit. I would be
taken off in vision, and explanations
would be given me. I was given illus-
trations of heavenly things, and of the
sanctuary, so that we were placed where
light was shining on us in clear, distinct
rays."—Gospel
Workers,
page 302.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Oral and Written Testimonies,
Jer. 1:17
2.
Literary Assistants, Jer. 36:4, 17, 18
3.
Divine Messages in Human Lan-
guage, Ezek. 40:4
4.
Validity of Prophet's Messages,
1 Cor. 1:11
5.
The Prophet as a Reprover, 2 Sam.
12:1, 7
6.
A Messenger From God, 2 Peter
1:20, 21